Bharatanatyam Dance – A Mesmerizing Journey of Classical Dance

Bharatanatyam dance, a unique south Indian dance form which expresses the divine or spiritual ideas pertaining to Vaishnavism,Shaktism and Shaivism. It is one of the eight (*) forms of Indian classical dance recognized by Sangeet Natak Academy (National Level Academy for performing Arts set up by Government of India).

Significance of the name Bharatanatyam:

 The name derived by joining two Sanskrit words: ‘Bharata’ which is a mnemonic word containing ‘Bha’(Bhava or emotion), ‘Ra’ (Raga or melody) and ‘Ta’(tala or rhythm) and ‘Natyam’ means dance. But few believes that this was named after the famous sage Bharata,who wrote the ‘Natya Shastra’, an Indian treatise on drama.

Origin:

This dance form originated in the temple of South India, particularly, Tamil Nadu, around 2000 years ago. In that time it was named as ‘Sadirattam’, a solo dance performance of Devadasis in temple.Hence it was also known as Dasiattam. Bharata Muni’s ‘Natya Shastra’ and Nandikesvara’s ‘Abhinaya Darpana’ are the main sources of textual material for the study of the technique and grammar of body movements in Bharatanatyam Dance form.

Evolution:

In 1910, the British Empire’s Madras Presidency officially forbade temple dances within the Hindu temple and with this Dasiattam became nearly extinct. But after many years E.Krishna Iyer, a lawyer, activist and classical artist, along with theosophist and choreographer Rukmini Devi Arundale,revived the dance form and coined the name ‘Bharatanatyam’.

In earlier time it was performed by solo female dancers. Sometimes one dancer played many different roles which called ‘Ekcharya Lasyam’. But now, it has become increasingly popular among male and group artists also.

Historical evidence of Bharatanatyam Dance:

• Historical representation of this dance form is found in Sangam texts like Shilappadikaram and Manimekhalai.
• Also there is a lot of visual evidence of Bharatanatym in the stones and pillars of ancient temples. Especially on the Gopurams of the Thillai Nataraja Temple (or Chidambaram Temple) of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu.They contain 108 poses of Bharatanatyam with two types of movements called Charis and Karanas. Dedicating to Nataraja(the cosmic dancer form of lord Shiva) this hindu temple was built by the Cholas in 10^th century.
• Another notable sculpture can be seen in cave 1 of Badami cave temples of Karnataka. Lord Shiva is depicted there as Nataraja doing Tandava dance and the arms of Shiva express the mudras that are parts of Bharatanatyam.

 Elements of Bharatanatyam Dance:

In early 19^th century this dance form was codified and documented as a performing art by four brothers (Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Sivanandam and Vadivelu) of Thanjavur district. Also known as ‘Thanjavur Quartet’.They defined minimum seven elements (collectively called Margam) of Bharatanatyam performance and arranged them in the following order:

Alarippu :

This word can be segregated into two parts – ‘Alar’ which refers to a flower and ‘Ippu’ which means bringing down. So, it literally means to adorn with flowers. Dedicating their bodies to God in this act the dancers start their presentation. This part includes basic dance postures accompanied with rhythmic syllables.

Jatiswaram:

This is a pure dance part with no words (i.e., Nritta). In this part Melody is added to the movement of Alarippu along with different poses and movements. This performance places less emphasis on facial expressions.

Shabdam:

This element adds words to the overall dance performance and the dancers express the words through their presentation (i.e., Natya). It is a beautiful composition of the dancers, musical team and vocalists.

Varnam:

Evolving into this element marks the arrival into the core of the performance. This is the Nritya part and most important and lengthy section of the whole performance. It is a combination of dance and emotions. The artists reveal all their moves with their mesmerizing footwork and codified gestures. Their hands and body portray a story related to war or affection between the devil and God, as the musicians envelop them with musical notes and tones that set the appropriate mood.

Padam:

Padam  is the combination of simplicity, drama and expression. The music becomes light and the dance becomes emotional. Through the steps the dancers express the devotion and the divine love. It is the Natya part of the performance and this section determines the experience of a dancer.

Jawali:

In Jawali stage short love lyrics performed in faster tempo.

Thillana:

It is the final stage of the performance and time to return to the Nritta part. The dancers give a  vibrant dance performance which performed to the accompaniment of musical syllables with a few lines of words or sahitya. Therewith the performance ends.

Sometimes , besides these seven elements three more elements are also be perfomed. That are- Keertnam, Kriti and Mangalam. The first two are taken place between Vernam and Padam stages following the sequence and the last one is performed after Thillana to invoke the blessings of the God.

Important features of Bharatanatyam Dance:

Bharatanatyam consists of the three components of dance. i.e; Nritta, Natya and Nritya.

The major styles of this dance form are-
(i) Pandanallur style.
(ii) Vazhavoor style.
(iii) Melathoor style and
(iv) Kalakshetra style.

Bharatanatyam represents the fire in the human body. So, it is also known as ‘Fire Dance’.

The ‘KatakaMukha Hasta’ , in which the three fingers are joined to symbolize ‘Om’, is one of the most important mudras which are used in this dance form.

The knees of the dancers are typically bent in a Bharatanatyam performance, and the weight is eventually distributed over both feet.

The accompanying orchestra consists of –
(i) A vocalist.
(ii) A mridangam player.
(iii) A violinist.
(iv) A flautist.
(v) A cymbal player.

The person who conducts the dance recitation is the Nattuvanar.

The recited verses and texts in Bharatanatyam are in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit.

In this modern time both men and women are participated in this dance performance. The costumes for both are of bright colour. Women wear sari and men wear dhotis.

A lot of make-up and bright ornaments are used, which accentuate the facial expressions and gestures of the performers.

Some famous Bharatanatyam dancers:

• Rukmini Devi Arundale (Recipient of ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1956, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1957 and many more).
• Padma Subrahmanyam(Recipient of ‘Padma Shri’ in 1981, ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 2003 and many more).
• Yamini Krishnamurthy ( Recipient of all three Padma Awards).
• Mallika Sarabhai ( Received ‘Padma Bhushan’).
• Aramel Valli (Received ‘Padma Bhushan’ and second youngest dancer to get the ‘Padma Shri’ award).
• Sonal Mansingh (Youngest recipient of ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 1992 and first Indian women dancer to be awarded ‘Padma Vibhushan’ in 2003).
• Narthaki Nataraj (First transgender woman to be awarded ‘Padma Shri’ in 2019).

(*) The number of classical dances is 8 as per the scholar. But in 2010 The Cultural Ministry of India has included ‘Chhau’ into the list of classical dances that makes a total of 9 classical dance forms.